


we were strangers when we met (and we were strangers when you left)

by klancesvlds



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Childhood Friends, Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Garrison trio, Gay Keith (Voltron), Hunk (Voltron) is a Ray of Sunshine, I'm Bad At Tagging, M/M, Model Keith (Voltron), Trans Pidge | Katie Holt, Verified Keith
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-27
Updated: 2018-12-27
Packaged: 2019-09-28 13:36:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,830
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17183984
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/klancesvlds/pseuds/klancesvlds
Summary: Sometimes, you miss the memories, not the person.___And not long after that, Keith disappeared without a trace. The only things that indicated that he had ever been there was the SOLD sign in his old front yard, and the friendship bracelet coiled around Lance’s wrist.“He didn’t even say goodbye.”





	1. Chapter 1

Whenever somebody heard the name ‘Lance’, it was always paired with ‘Keith’.

 

Keith and Lance.

 

Lance and Keith.

 

The two had been inseparable in their early days. When Keith had moved from the dry deserts of Texas to his elementary school, Lance had immediately latched on to the aloof new boy, and never looked back.

 

Of course they had their differences. But whenever they argued, Lance immediately apologized, whether he was right or wrong, because he couldn’t _imagine_ living without Keith. Life was just too hard — but he had Keith, and Keith was all he needed. Or so he thought.

 

When they were in fifth grade, Lance made Keith a friendship bracelet in art class. Keith had fumbled over a ‘thank you’ — words had never been his forte. He ended up giving Lance a hug. Two days later, he came to class with newly formed bags under his eyes and some threads tied together into a knot at the end. Lance knew Keith didn’t have much money, but he still thought it was the best present he had ever received.

 

They met Hunk in seventh grade, and Pidge in eighth. Hunk was the perfect buffer between Keith and Lance. He gravitated more towards Lance’s loud personality, but he was never afraid to tell him when he was in the wrong. Pidge, on the other hand, bonded with Keith over cryptids and his lack of technology knowledge. She had skipped two grades, but was still more brilliant than all of them combined.

 

In their first year at Garrison High School, Keith started to pull away, making plenty of excuses as to why he couldn’t join them. Lance started to enjoy Hunk and Pidge’s company more and more, not worrying about Keith’s smartass remarks or dry humor, and soon, stopped asking Keith to come.

 

Lance, Pidge, and Hunk soon became known as the Garrison Trio.

 

And not long after that, Keith disappeared without a trace. The only things that indicated that he had ever been there was the SOLD sign in his old front yard, and the friendship bracelet coiled around Lance’s wrist.

 

“He didn’t even say goodbye.”

 

____

 

Three years later

 

“Huuunk,” Lance whined, wiping at the flour that was scattered across his shirt. “I never agreed to do this!”

 

Hunk looked up from the recipe he was using, unimpressed. “You owe me a favor. I just called it in.”

 

Lance sighed as he stirred the dry ingredients together, making an even bigger mess. “Yeah, I know. I owe you big time for that one.” Hunk had given him his chemistry homework last week when Lance had (totally not) forgotten to do it over winter break. He tugged at the threads still tied around his wrist, letting some flour fall from underneath them.

 

From the living room, Lance heard Pidge’s cackle. “Hah. Loser,” she said from her very comfy looking seat by the fireplace, her feet propped up on a footstool.

 

Fucking Gremlin.

 

“What are you reading?” Hunk asked.

 

Lance looked up at her, and sure enough, a magazine was in her hands, and she seemed to be scanning the article intently.

 

Lance almost missed it. But then again, he definitely didn’t. Pidge, reading a magazine? What. The. Fuck.

 

“What the fuck?” He shouted, echoing his thoughts. He wiped his hands on his already dirty jeans and grabbed it from her unsuspecting hands, ignoring her “Hey!” and plopping his dirty ass on the arm beside her.

 

“Don’t— Lance, I swear to god, give me that back!” She unsuccessfully tried to steal her magazine back from him, and he sprung up, dancing away from her whacks and surprisingly well-aimed kicks. He gleefully flipped it to the cover, eyes scanning the page. THE MARMORA. Below the title was a well-sculpted man, with a hell of a jawline, and… was that a mullet? Lance didn’t think Marmora Magazine was the type to hire men who looked like they were born in the ‘80s.

 

The model was probably the same age as him, and was slouched on a wooden chair, legs spread. He was dressed to the nines, with a black suit and a strikingly purple tie, which when Lance looked closer, brought out his eyes. He had never seen him before anywhere, and he had to admit that he was attractive. If people with mullets could be pretty.

 

The cuffs of his button down were rolled up, exposing his defined forearms and a simple bracelet around his wrist. Lance squinted his eyes to see it clearer. It was familiar…

 

His vision drifted down to the text at the bottom: MARMORA MAGAZINE’S NEW MODEL, KEITH KOGANE more of page 12

 

“Oh, hell no.”

 

____

 

**MARMORA MAGAZINE’S NEW MODEL, KEITH KOGANE**

By Acxa Galra

 

Ever since Keith Kogane entered the celebrity world a little under three years ago modeling the world famous LOTOR underwear line, he has been keeping a low profile, preferring to keep his face out of the spotlight and spending most of his free time with his older brother, Takashi Shirogane, a very well known model for Altea. His manager, Kolivan, recently signed the deal with Marmora, and Kogane seems very thrilled to be working for Marmora.

_Q: Keith, what made you want to start modeling again?_

A: I’m not so sure. I just think I missed it.

 

_Q: Keith, can you tell me how it feels to be working for Marmora in comparison to LOTOR?_

A: I’ve been reading Marmora almost my entire life. It almost seems like a dream come true, something I never thought would happen.

 

_Q: Why did you choose Marmora over Altea?_

A: Well, Altea already has Shiro, and no one can compare to him.

 

____

 

Keith sighed as he tossed the magazine onto his sofa, falling across his carpet and groaning loudly. He hated looking at his face on the stupid cover of the stupid magazine that he didn’t want to work for. Pretty much everything he had said in that interview had been a lie, carefully manipulated by Kolivan.

 

He heard his phone ring. Once, twice, three times. Then silent. Then it started ringing again. He pulled it out of his back pocket.

 

INCOMING CALL FROM SHIRO

 

He answered it. “What.”

 

“I saw the magazine,” Shiro shouted over some loud music in the background. “Are you okay? I know you hate Marmora.” His tone turned softer. “I know you hate lying.”

 

“I’m fine,” he lied through his teeth, pulling the phone away from his ear so he couldn’t hear what else Shiro was saying, and clicking END CALL. His head fell back against the soft fluff of the rug, and he wanted to keep banging it until he fucking died.

 

____

 

“I told you not to look at it!”

 

“Pidge, this is the ultimate betrayal,” he said, throwing the magazine back at her face. It hit her right where he wanted it to, and he barely caught the muffled “Ow” from behind the pages.

 

“Knock it off, you big baby, and stop pretending to be upset,” Hunk scolded lightly. He made a distraught sound, but Lance was only mildly surprised; Hunk could read him like a book.

 

Pidge rolled her eyes, throwing him his phone which lay next to her. “Why don’t you message him on Instagram, and see if he’s available to talk? I’m sure he still remembers you.”

 

Lance unlocked the device, looking up his profile, which didn’t take long because his account was verified. That in itself was terrifying.

 

kkogane ✓ ︳follow

 **36** posts ︳ **2.5m** followers ︳ **26** following

Keith Kogane — yes, I lived in Texas.

Followed by **pidgeotto** , **hunkalicious** , **marmoramagazine** \+ 27 more

 

His brain short circuited. “He follows you guys?” Lance asked almost casually.

 

Lance barely heard Hunk’s reply of “I would’ve thought you would be more upset” because he was back to stalking Keith’s profile.

 

His profile picture was a selfie, with bad lighting and messy hair. He could barely see Keith’s face, and he was pretty sure that’s how Keith wanted it. He clicked the follow button, and scrolled through his posts. Most of them were professional modeling pictures, with the exception of one or two more terrible selfies with a cat. He stopped at the bottom, where he saw the video sign in the upper right hand corner.

 

He pressed on it.

 

Liked by **hunkalicious** , **pidgeotto** , **shirogane** and **89,943 others**

 **kkogane** he is real come @ me

View all 1,254 comments

 **pidgeotto** take me with u next time

︳ **kkogane** @pidgeotto it’s a date

 

The screen was filled with darkness, and as Lance turned up the sound, he could hear Keith’s overjoyed voice. He was obviously running, the phone was shaking, and sometimes the camera pointed down to see his feet pounding against the ground.

 

“Look!” He exclaimed from behind the phone screen, pointing a finger at… something in front of him. “It’s the mothman!” Then the video started again, and Lance was left in shock until what he had just watched finally caught up to his brain, and he left out a snort.

 

“Oh my god,” he murmured. Pidge looked up to stare at him, eyebrows raised. “Oh my god,” he said louder. “Keith still believes in cryptids.”

 

Pidge laughed. “Duh. It’s not something that you just, stop believing in.”

 

Lance couldn’t help himself. He liked the video. Then commented _I see you’re still the same_.

 

Then he liked all of his other pictures. All thirty six. Because, goddammit, Lance really wanted Keith to remember him. Like, really really. And he was going to try everything to make it so he did.


	2. Chapter 2

Interviews took everything out of Keith. He just wanted to go home, curl in a ball, and sleep forever. Maybe with some coffee. And his cat.

 

He looked at the black curtains in front of him, separating him from the stage and the thousands of screaming fans. He sighed, hearing his name being called out. The curtains opened with a whoosh, and he was smiling and waving at the crowd. He had almost forgot how blinding the lights could be.

 

“Keith! How are you today?” The show’s host said, smiling the biggest, fakest smile he had ever seen. But it couldn’t be any faker than his own.

 

His hour passed smoothly, with him responding to the questions with the scripted lines that Kolivan made him practice over and over. Pretty soon, the host, who’s name Keith had forgotten, was clapping her hands together and turning to the crowd. “Okay, I think we have time for one more question?” The people booed, yelling things like “Ask if he’s single!” and “Keith, I love you!” and holding stupid, stupid signs saying things like “Keith Kogane, marry me!”

 

He chuckled though, giving her a thumbs up.

 

“Okay!” She clapped her hands again. “Let’s take one from Twitter. Spin the wheel please!” She grinned, and it took everything he had not to run away.

 

A screen appeared behind him, and he turned to stare at it, pretending to be enthralled. It landed on “Why do @KKogane always wear that bracelet?”, tweeted by KoganeLove. His eyes widened, and he immediately fingered the threads of his bracelet.

 

The show host “ooohed” and “aahhed”. “That’s a good one! Thank you, KoganeLove!” She turned to Keith, eyes wide, expectant.

 

“Um,” he stuttered, his smile dropping. “There’s not really a good explanation? It was just given to me by a really good friend a long time ago.” A crease appeared on his forehead. The crowd was unusually silent.

 

“And this good friend…” The host’s eyes twinkled. “Are you still friends? What’s their name?”

 

Keith let out a breath. “I hope so.” Then he closed his mouth, lifting the corners of his lips in what he hoped was a good-enough faux smile.

 

The host seemed disappointed. “Well, okay then! Thank you so much, Keith, for joining us tonight! I hope you’ll come back very soon!”

 

Keith smiled at the camera, not saying anything, waving at the crowd until the lights cut out and he was able to make his escape.

 

____

 

He kept his hood up the entire ride back to his apartment. The cab driver never paused his blabbering, but Keith zoned him out early on. He just wanted some peace, some quiet.

 

His cat was waiting for him at his doorstep. He picked her up, soothing a hand over her fur. Her name was Scarlett, but Keith hated that name. Too fancy. He’d been calling her Red for two years.

 

He made himself a cup of coffee, then settled on the sofa to check the hellhole that was his socials. On Twitter, KoganeLove was freaking out about being called out on the show tonight. He liked their tweet, then closed out of the app. He opened Snapchat, taking a quick picture of him and his coffee and Red. “The best kind of night,” he captioned it, then saved it to his story.

 

He slid to his DMs on Instagram, quickly seeing that Pidge had replied what he had recently sent her.

 

 **kkogane** sent an image

 **kkogane** dude if they really existed id freak

 **pidgeotto** dude dont call me dude

 **Pidgeotto** they do really exist i promise

 **pidgeotto** cause matt is one

 

The grin settled on his face. His fingers flew over the keypad.

 

 **kkogane** sorry

 **kkogane** but lmao im sure matt would hate that

 

Her response was surprisingly quick.

 

 **pidgeotto** all is forgiven.

 **pidgeotto** lance is here, and he followed you today, and i think he’s about to have a panic attack

 **pidgeotto** put him out of his misery?

 

Lance? Keith hadn’t thought about him in… okay, that’s a lie. Keith thought about him like, every day.

 

Keith slide to the left, pressing the small heart at the bottom of the page. He scrolled past unnecessary comments and likes on his recent picture, until he got to a spam of likes that caught his attention.

 

 **sharpshooterlance** liked your photo. 3h

 **sharpshooterlance** liked your photo. 3h

 **sharpshooterlance** liked your photo. 3h

 

And so on. On _all_ of his pictures. Huh.

 

 **sharpshooterlance** commented: I see you’re still the same. 3h

 **sharpshooterlance** started following you. 3h   Follow

 

Keith pressed on Lance’s username.

 

sharpshooterlance ︳follow back

 **67** posts ︳ **609** followers ︳ **182** following

Lance McClain — bi, bi, bi.

Followed by **pidgeotto** and **hunkalicious**

 

Lance was _gorgeous_. Like, tanned skin, sparkling eyes, windswept hair, perfect beach boy vibes kind of gorgeous. Keith remembered blue and green braces and some broad shoulders, but this was a whole different person from the Lance he remembered.

 

A whole _better_ person from the Lance he remembered.

 

“Shit,” he thought, before looking back at his biography. _Bi, bi, bi._ “Oh, fuck.” And then he did something he shouldn’t have ever done. He followed him back, and liked every single fucking one of his sixty seven pictures.

 

____

 

Lance woke on the hard, cold wooden floors of Pidge’s living room. Hunk was still snoring softly next to him, and the gremlin was still curled in a tiny ball on the sofa above him.

 

He sat up, then immediately wished he hadn’t. Pain poured into his head, and he pushed a hand into his temple to try and soothe it. “How much did I drink last night?” He wondered aloud.

 

“Enough,” a voice from the doorway said. Lance looked up warily to see Pidge’s older brother, Matt, leaning against the doorframe. He held out a glass of water and some Advil for him to take.

 

Lance moaned. “You’re an angel.”

 

Matt nodded towards his phone. “Check that. It’s been driving me nuts all morning,” before turning on his heel and walking back into his bedroom.

 

Lance fumbled, reaching to the small dinging device. When he saw how many notifications he had, his eyes widened comically, and he unlocked his phone hurriedly.

 

His eyes fell on the small Instagram icon at the bottom of his screen, where a red 68 was blaring hazardously. His eyebrows furrowed. He didn’t post anything yesterday, so why…?

 

 **kkogane** has liked your post. 6h

 **kkogane** has liked your post. 6h

 

What. The. Fuck.

 

 **kkogane** has started following you. 6h    Following

 

Lance couldn’t wrap his head around it. Keith had started following him? Why? Then it dawned on him through his hangover state. Lance had followed him first, hadn’t he?

 

Damn that mullet boy.

 

He pressed on his profile, clicking on the large MESSAGE by his name. He was going to figure out how they were playing this right here and now.

 

 **sharpshooterlance** wtf man

 

When he clicked out of the DM, satisfied with his message, he finally noticed it. _176 Requests_ was glowing in the top right of his inbox. His mouth dropped open.

 

**kogayne**

Who even are you?

 

**mybbykeith**

r u that friend he talked about last night?????

 

**koganelove**

Dude u hawt u and keef would be a hawt couple

 

**keeflovers**

Are you dating keith?

 

He took a screenshot of the fanmail, then deleted every single message in the requests.

 

 **sharpshooterlance** sent an image

 **sharpshooterlance** again, wtf man

**Author's Note:**

> sorry if this seems rushed xx


End file.
